


Interactions

by sereniteasocks



Category: Nothing Much to Do
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-11
Updated: 2014-11-19
Packaged: 2018-02-25 00:40:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2602232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sereniteasocks/pseuds/sereniteasocks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Balthazar and Pedro's personal point of views on their interactions from directly after Hero's birthday, the period after the vigil and during the last party.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Post-party: Balthazar

Balthazar rarely got angry, or rather, he never got angry for real. He very rarely lashed out..but now he was angry. For real. He was angry for Hero's sake, he was angry with Claudio..he was really angry at Pedro.

He knew Pedro wasn't perfect. He knew that Pedro could be too self centric, could ignore personal space, all that he knew, but he hadn't known that he was capable of something like this. It turned out that went Pedro did something wrong, Pedro did it very wrong.

So he had dodged Pedro's many calls, and he had not answered Pedro's many texts, but now it was Monday and Pedro was standing beside his locker.

”Hey” Pedro said, with a grin that suddenly looked stupid.  
”Hi.” He responded, very focused upon the locker's lock.  
”I tried calling you..”  
”Yeah..”  
He barely got his locker open, his hands were trembling, his eyes were flickering..  
”So, why haven't you answered..?” What was Pedro's tone? Was it hurt? No, it was.. entitlement. Or something.  
”My class starts in five minutes, I can't do this now-”  
”You have your study period now. I know, because I have it with you, remember?” Pedro attempted a small laugh. It didn't sound very real.  
He had genuinely forgot about that, and cursed himself for a second. Not now.. was in his thoughts, but -  
”Alright then...” was what he answered.  
They didn't need to say anything else before they both headed to a bench on the school yard, since they had spent quite a bit of time there during this very hour of the day, sitting next to each other, sometimes studying, sometimes doing pretty much anything but.  
”So, I'm.. I'm guessing you're siding with Hero on this..”was the first thing out of Pedro's mouth.  
What. The...  
”You mean a girl being absolutely humiliated on her birthday? Yeah, I guess I do..”  
”She humiliated Claudio first, you know.”  
”Even if she did, let's say everything is true, even if it is like that, he didn't have to break up with her like that. There's a line, and he didn't just cross it, he ran a marathon over it. And we don't even know.”  
”You don't understand, Balth-azar, you've never had a girlfriend, you don't know how it's like..”  
”Really?” Balthazar scoffed. ”I've been hurt by people I like, but thoughts like that have never crossed my mind. Have they crossed yours? With Bea?”  
”Maybe not to that-.”  
”And I've never had a boyfriend, either.” He says it quietly. He..doesn't feel quite angry anymore. ”Or any other kind of..special friend.”  
”Yeah, I suppose I.. should have..” Pedro sighs deeply.  
And Balthazar knows what he must say next, and sighs deeply himself. Because he knows it's not easy, and he know it will pain him, but he knows that he doesn't really have any other alternative.  
”Look, Pedro, I just.. I don't want to involved with, I don't know, this, with you and Claudio. I don't want to be dragged into a situation where I have to listen to people thrash one of my friends...”  
”I mean, I get that, but..” Pedro's head jerks suddenly. ”Wait, what do you mean by that, exactly?”  
”I mean that I can't be around you. Right now, anyway. I don't know, maybe, maybe in the future, but.. I can't deal with it now. I can't look you in the eyes. I can't be team Pedro..Pedro and Claudio.. I can't do this..”  
”Balthazar...” the way Pedro says his name is different than how he has ever said it before. ”Is there not any other way?”  
He had hoped. But..  
”No.”  
”Alright then..”  
Pedro is the one who leaves first, going gods knows where. Balthazar does what he always does when he feels like this - he goes to the music room. And he picks up a guitar.  
”Don't be sad.. Men lies.. men are jerks..” he mumble-sings.


	2. Post-party: Pedro

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note that this is the same scene as the previous chapter, with the same dialogue, and this will be the case with all three of the Pedro chapters following Balthazar chapters.

Everything was screwed up. Pedro had always been the one to..fix things, but there is a point where things are so broken, that there isn't a fix, is there?

Sure he could do small things. Cheer up Claudio, talk to Ben.. Get Balthazar to talk to him again. He had called far too many times, sent too many texts.. and now he stood outside Balthazars locker. Waiting for him. It was probably stalking by this point.. but he couldn't not to this. He needed Balthazars advice. He needed Balthazars smile. He needed Balthazars..everything, really. Most of all, he needed to know how things were going to be.

He had been to school extra early, and he got more..nervous, for some reason, by the minute, until Balthazar finally arrived.

”Hey” he said, and smiled, because maybe, maybe, Balthazar was going to..  
”Hi.”.. stare at anything that wasn't him.  
”I tried calling you..” he tried.  
”Yeah..”  
He was used to Balthazar being quiet, closed up at times, even reserved.. he wasn't used to Balthazar being, well, cold. It wasn't a nice feeling.  
”So, why haven't you answered..?”  
”My class starts in five minutes, I can't do this now-”  
”You have your study period now. I know, because I have it with you, remember?” He attempted a small laugh. It sounded almost as sad as it felt.  
He could see Balthazars hands stopping. He found it hard to focus for a moment, until Balthazar replied.  
”Alright then...”  
Balthazar sounded defeated, but he was going to take what he was going to get, and they walked to the bench. Their bench. He knew Balthazar wasn't going to speak, and he knew that beating around the bush wasn't going to help with anything, so he went for it.  
”So, I'm.. I'm guessing you're siding with Hero on this..”  
”You mean a girl being absolutely humiliated on her birthday? Yeah, I guess I do..”  
That's a little.. well..  
”She humiliated Claudio first, you know.”  
”Even if she did, let's say everything is true, even if it is like that, he didn't have to break up with her like that. There's a line, and he didn't just cross it, he ran a marathon over it. And we don't even know.”  
There's something in Balthazars voice, something that makes him desperate to make Balthazar understand.  
”You don't understand, Balth-”-he stops himself from uttering the Y-”azar, you've never had a girlfriend, you don't know how it's like..”  
”Really?” Balthazar scoffed. ”I've been hurt by people I like, but thoughts like that have never crossed my mind. Have they crossed yours? With Bea?”  
Bea? He supposed.. maybe, back then.. but.  
”Maybe not to that-.”  
”And I've never had a boyfriend, either.” Balthazar says it so quietly that he almost can't hear Balthazar. So quietly, it speaks incredibly loudly. And makes him feel even worse. ”Or any other kind of..special friend.”  
”Yeah, I suppose I.. should have..” He can't come up with any better words to say. He can just come up with this.. useless drivel.  
”Look, Pedro, I just.. I don't want to involved with, I don't know, this, with you and Claudio. I don't want to be dragged into a situation where I have to listen to people thrash one of my friends...”  
”I mean, I get that, but..” Balthazar has lost his coldness. He starts to feel cold himself.” Wait, what do you mean by that, exactly?”  
”I mean that I can't be around you. Right now, anyway. I don't know, maybe, maybe in the future, but.. I can't deal with it now. I can't look you in the eyes. I can't be team Pedro..Pedro and Claudio.. I can't do this.”  
Please, please, please..  
”Balthazar... Is there not any other way?”  
”No.”  
Well, he must listen, right? He must..he must accept Balthazars choices.  
”Alright then..”  
He stayed put for, what, ten minutes? What was he expecting? Really. So he finally left. Walking aimlessly, because where he used to go.. well, not an option at that moment. He found a path of grass and kicked it very, very hard.  
”Shit. Shit shit shit.”


	3. Song: Balthazar

Everything was supposed to be ok now, wasn't it? Hero was alright, everything had been made clear, people had apologized.. were they to forgive and forget? Balthazar usually was a firm believer in forgiving and forgetting. Hero had forgiven.. and Hero was the one who had been hurt.

He knew it wasn't about him and his feelings, clearly it wasn't, but..maybe it was unfair, as a matter of fact it probably was, but he was still upset with Pedro for disappointing him. No one should get put on a pedestal, even if one.. even if one liked them. A lot. But that is what had happened. He had even written a song about it.

Now he had written another song. Maybe still about the same person..well, almost definitely, mostly about the same person. Men were deceivers ever.. Maybe it was unfair that as well. He wish he didn't care. But he did. He cared deeply.

”Balt?” it was his mother.  
”Yeah?”  
”Pedro's here to see you.. are you 'busy'?”  
Pedro hadn't stopped by that often, but when Pedro had..  
”No..” he replied, because he didn't like feeling like this, not in the slightest.  
”Hey..” Pedro said, without a smiling. There's a first.  
”Hi” he replied. He managed to look Pedro in the eyes. That was something.  
”Writing a song, huh?”  
”About how men suck, yeah.” Pedro laughed, actually laughed, and soon he couldn't help but join it.   
”Well, we deserve it. Well, at least I do..”   
”It's... it's really mostly a re-work of Sigh No More.”   
”Sigh no more, men were deceivers ever, yeah.”  
He could feel his cheek getting warm. It was a lot harder to face being so angry, to face saying such things, when Pedro was there. Especially as he could feel himself relaxing again. Maybe enough time had passed. Maybe the apologies had been enough. Maybe not maybe.  
”Look Pedro, I really appreciate you apologizing, and.. I don't know. If you haven't started getting upset with me, I'd like to you know, get back to things. See a movie. Whatever.”  
”I'd never get upset with you.”  
He had to avert his eyes, not for being angry, but for other reasons. Ancient reasons.   
”You haven't heard my song yet.”  
”Well, play it to me then.”  
He had played his songs to people during all this, of course. He had played them to his parents, to his little sister, to Ursula, he had even performed with Benedick and Beatrice..but it wasn't like playing songs for Pedro. They were obviously the only two people in the room, but Pedro had a way of looking at him, so absorbed, so focused, that it felt like they were the only two people in the entire universe.   
”Sounds amazing, as always.” And there's that ice-melting smile.  
”Thanks.. I thought maybe I'd upload it soon.”  
”Yeah, you definitely should.”  
He nodded in response, and then kept silent, because he couldn't quite find any words that he needed to say. Pedro kept silent too, for a while.  
”Look, there's.. there's something I've been meaning to tell you..” Pedro looked at him and bit his lip, he gave a small encouraging head nod in return. ”You know how I said you've never had a girlfriend and you pointed out that you've never had a boyfriend either and basically let me know again how ignorant I can be? Yeah, well, it turns out it was extra ignorant because..” Pedro sighed so deeply, he could almost feel his hair flowing. ”Well, the last month or so, I've realized something, and that is.. I like girls, I really do, but.. I also really like guys.” Pedro lets out a nervous laugh. ”I guess..I'm bi, actually.”  
”Oh” is all he can find to respond. How else is one supposed to respond to find out that something that had seemed so hopeless, is now slightly, slightly less hopeless? Not with something eloquent, surely.  
”...yeah.” Pedro does that nervous laugh again.  
”Well, I mean.. good for you. For being honest with yourself, and, stuff.” He can feel himself doing the stretchy nod thing.   
”Thank you?”  
”You're welcome?” His answer leads to them both snorting. ”So. Who is hotter in Shrek – Donkey or Dragon?”  
This would be where he got hit with a pillow.  
”Shut up!” Pedro manages to get out between laugh attacks.


	4. Song: Pedro

Strange thing about not talking to someone for a while, is that you actually get to know them better. Well, maybe not them, but your relation to them. How you feel for them. Which can make you discover that your feelings for one of your best friends may not be entirely platonic.

Which can make it hurt more when they walk the other way before you can meet them in in hallways, thinking you can't see them. Or when they make a point of calling you a deceiver, only not to your face. Pedro deserved it, maybe..probably.

He was trying to make it better, though. For those he really hurt and for that one person he never wanted to hurt, even in the slightest, ever again. So he tried visiting that person, again. Standing in the corridor, just waiting for the person's mother to say the person's 'busy'. This time though, that's not what happens. 

”Hey..” he said, in a perfectly neutral tone, after ages of practice.  
”Hi” Balthazar replies, actually looking him in the eyes.   
”Writing a song, huh?” He had missed the songs.  
”About how men suck, yeah.”   
And now he couldn't help it but burst into laughter, and he was scared that he was making things worse, that he had taken something from Balthazars as a joke again, but soon again Balthazar joined in and he could feel the relief washing over him.  
”Well, we deserve it. Well, at least I do..”   
”It's... it's really mostly a re-work of Sigh No More.”   
Oh..   
”Sigh no more, men were deceivers ever, yeah.”  
He tries saying it casually, but finds himself lucky as Balthazar looks away, because he just knows his eyes are giving him away.  
”Look Pedro, I really appreciate you apologizing, and.. I don't know.” Please, please don't.. ”If you haven't started getting upset with me, I'd like to you know, get back to things. See a movie. Whatever.” Oh god, thank you.  
”I'd never get upset with you.”   
”You haven't heard my song yet..”  
”Well, play it to me then.”  
The lyrics are, while hitting at first, as always, brilliant. Balthazars voice is, as always, brilliant. Balthazars smile, as always, could cure cancer. All is right with the world again.  
”Sounds amazing, as always.”   
”Thanks.. I thought maybe I'd upload it soon.”  
”Yeah, you definitely should.”  
There is a silence, and he knows that this is his shot, that this is where he must.. tell him.   
”Look, there's.. there's something I've been meaning to tell you..” he begins, not knowing whether he can continue, but Balthazar nods, and he knows he must. ”You know how I said you've never had a girlfriend and you pointed out that you've never had a boyfriend either and basically let me know again how ignorant I can be? Yeah, well, it turns out it was extra ignorant because..” This is it, this is really it.. ”Well, the last month or so, I've realized something, and that is.. I like girls, I really do, but.. I also really like guys. I guess..I'm bi, actually.”  
”Oh” is the response he gets. Well, what was he expecting? For Balthazar to run to his arms, and profess his life long love? Get it together, man, he tells himself.   
”...yeah.” Maybe he had been wrong. Maybe the signs had been less signs, more him being delusional.   
”Well, I mean.. good for you. For being honest with yourself, and, stuff.” He was, he definitely was..wasn't he?  
”Thank you?” is all he can muster up to answer.  
”You're welcome?” Balthazar answers. He snorts, Balthazar snorts, and he starts to ponder how much he had been overreacting to..well, nothing, really. ”So.” Balthazar continues. ”Who is hotter in Shrek – Donkey or Dragon?”  
He's worried he's not going to manage to direct the pillow, because how hard he is laughing.  
”Shut up!” he says, rolling his eyes, still laughing.


	5. One foot in sea..: Balt

Things had changed, and not in the way Balthazar had expected. He had always known that the reconciliation was coming, some day, as much as he sometimes tried to deny it. He had always imagined how it would be. Would there be bitterness? Would there be something broken, something small, that was past mending, even though it still..worked? He had expected so, and it was in the back of his head as he hugged Pedro for the first time in a long time.

That was not what had happened, however. Things had been..different, yeah, but in a kind of a good way. Scary, uncertain, yes, but good. There was a new warmth, and there were times were he thought.. he tried not to think about it, because he wasn't sure, couldn't be sure, and he didn't want to hope for something impossible.

Still, there was something..

So when he went to look for Pedro, and when there was talk of match making, he didn't start to feel insecure, he didn't feel a pang, he just went with it. And Pedro had his arm on his knee, and Pedro asked him to go outside with him, and now they just stood there, staring at each other. Beatrice had come and went; unfinished sentences, from her.. the awkwardness was there. Big time.

”Are you going to apologies again?” Pedro had always been the one to cut the tension, and Pedro was the one who had dragged him out, but he was feeling brave.  
”You guys are getting sick of it, huh?”  
”Well, there is a point..” he lets out a small laugh.  
”Ah, well, that's not what I wanted to talk about.”  
”Hm?” What could it be?  
”I.. uh.. just give me a moment, yeah?”  
He had waited for years... he was feeling brave..  
”Can..can I say something?”   
”Sure..”  
”I like you, Pedro. Writing odes, being unable to stop thinking about you for years, sometimes when you look at me I get chills, the nice kind of chills, like you.”  
”Yeah?”   
”Yeah.”  
”Well I like you, Balthazar. Wanting to become a better person, trying to write songs even if they turn out like shit, miss you like hell when you're gone like you, feeling nervous and not finding words until you make me feel comfortable again, like you.”  
Pedro's short response started to make sense to him now, because while his head was crowded with a lot of thoughts, while his heart felt like it might be exploded, while he thought and felt so many things.. all he could do was hurt from smiling so much, and simply say.  
”Yeah?”  
”Yeah.”  
Once again, he felt brave.  
”I..uh, I think I forgot something. Wanting to kiss you, like you? You know?”  
”Yeah, I.. I know. I really, really know. But.. I also forgot something.”  
There was something in Pedro's tone, something that.. that made it sound like what was following, was not going to be in the vein of, I really like your smile, like you.  
”..what?” he said, the monosyllabic back.  
”I don't think I deserve you, like you.”  
What a clueless..  
”Well..I want the best for you, like you. And from what you told me, don't go calling me big headed, I think I am the best for you.”  
Pedro smiled.. briefly, before continuing.  
”I want you to be happy, like you.”  
”I you make me happy, like you.”  
Pedro's smile returned, not going back this time.  
”This is getting convoluted..”  
”And a bit over complicated, yeah?”  
”Yeah.” The sound of Pedro's laugh wasn't the usual sound, it was..more giddy, while simultaneously more nervous. He liked the sound of it.   
”Want to go back to the I want to kiss you, like you?”  
”Definitely.”  
Maybe he didn't want to admit it, but he had imagined them kissing them. A lot. There had been many occasions, many varieties, but it had never been.. this. The warm feeling in his stomach, the feel of Pedro smiling against his lips, and even Pedro's hair in his hand was different.. He really, really didn't want it to stop. Luckily, even when it did, quite some time after, it didn't take long for it to start again.


	6. One foot in sea..: Pedro

Pedro wasn't used to being nervous. He was used to being just naturally confident, naturally at ease, naturally the leader. He had never really reflected upon it. Then it had turned out that this whole persona had severely hurt people, and things lead to each other, and in his wrong judgement, combined with his role, he had been a part of severely hurting another person.

Everything had turned out, more or less, alright in the end. Hero was alive, and mostly well. John had come back. Everyone started to sort of become friends again, though things weren't as carefree anymore.

But things had happened, and suddenly it started to feel like all those years of not being overly self conscious were back to hunt him, because now he felt just generally nerve wrecked, all the time. Well, not all the time, just..all the time around a certain someone.

Most specifically when he was in an enclosed space, surrounded by people trying to set him up, one of them being the one he wanted to be with. When he was surrounded by pressure to do something, choose someone. It wasn't the pressure that finally got to him, though. It was looking at Balthazar, and knowing he had to do something. Do something because he wanted it, but also because he felt sick of feeling sick. So here they stood in the corridor, and his nerves once again let him down.

”Are you going to apologies again?” Balthazar was the one to finally break the silence.  
”You guys are getting sick of it, huh?” He know everyone thought he was apologizing too much, but to some extent, he himself felt he apologized too little.  
”Well, there is a point..”   
”Ah, well, that's not what I wanted to talk about.”  
”Hm?”  
Agh. Just. Get. The. Freaking. Words. Out.   
”I.. uh.. just give me a moment, yeah?”  
”Can..can I say something?”   
”Sure..”  
”I like you, Pedro. Writing odes, being unable to stop thinking about you for years, sometimes when you look at me I get chills, the nice kind of chills, like you.”  
Wow. Wow. Holy shit, wow.  
”Yeah?”  
Because he still kind of finds it hard to believe.  
”Yeah.”  
And with that, the nervousness finally floats away (though the butterflies still leaves him stomach in uproar) and as always, Balthazar inspires him.  
”Well I like you, Balthazar. Wanting to become a better person, trying to write songs even if they turn out like shit, miss you like hell when you're gone like you, feeling nervous and not finding words until you make me feel comfortable again, like you.”  
”Yeah?” God, what he'd do to make Balthazar smile like that again.  
”Yeah.”  
”I..uh, I think I forgot something. Wanting to kiss you, like you? You know?”  
”Yeah, I.. I know. I really, really know.” But shit. ”But.. I also forgot something.”  
”..what?”  
”I don't think I deserve you, like you.”  
”Well..I want the best for you, like you. And from what you told me, don't go calling me big headed, I am the best for you.”  
Balthazar was right, as always. Still..  
”I want you to be happy, like you.”  
”I you make me happy, like you.”  
That was the best news he had heard all day. Well, among them, anyway. It had been quite the conversation.  
”This is getting convoluted..”   
”And a bit over complicated, yeah?”  
”Yeah.”  
”Want to go back to the I want to kiss you, like you?”  
”Definitely.”  
Balthazar had been the one to show initiative, but having someone like that like you, it made you confident. Cooky, really, to be perfectly honest. So he got his initiative back. He kissed Balthazar, who was quick to return in equal measure. And suddenly nothing was wrong. Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt. He had always been the guy to always move forward, to always look for the next, better thing..but this moment? This moment he wanted to stay in forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I've seen before that the total amount of chapters haven't been updated, I just wanted to point out that this is the final chapter. Thank you for the support, and I hope you've enjoyed it :)


End file.
